Diving the Virgins

Although there is diving throughout the Caribbean, the British and US Virgins have an abundance of well-marked and easily accessible scuba and snorkel sites. They have a great system of buoys. One has only to pick up the buoy and follow the line down to beautiful underwater sights. Unfortunately on the dive with my sons I found a couple of teaspoons of water in my underwater camera case. I thought my camera had survived, but then the flash would not work and a few days later the zoom quit and a week later it wouldn’t even turn on. So one of the tasks when we get back to the states is to get a new camera and underwater case.

Pictures don’t do the underwater beauty of the Virgins justice, but my best attempts are depicted below. It doesn’t matter if you are snorkeling or Scuba diving the underwater diversity and beauty is astounding!
Wreck Ally is between Cooper Island and Salt Cay and has 4 wrecks in it.

Wreck Alley restroom

Tug Boat at Wreck Alley

 

tubular sponges are very colorful

He was really quite friendly

I love the turtles! We saw a lot of them in the shallow waters.

The Wreck of the Rhone is the premier dive of the BVIs! We have dove in many times over the years, but is always different with more to see.

After section of the ship's ribs

Looking through the forward section of the Rhone

Fire Coral with a small sea urchin

The corals are wonderful

This crab was very active

We saw many Sting Rays gliding above the bottom

Sting Ray at rest

A great dive in the US Virgins is the Cow and Calf. It has a number of swim throughs. I have tried to make some short movies using a Go Pro in an effort to depict some of the excitement I feel as I glide through the thick clear liquid through the beautiful alien environment. Click on the play arrows to play each short video clip.

 

There are so many wonderful dives; wrecks, coral reefs, walls, chimneys and tunnels.  We have found this to be a beautiful underwater world.  Some of our other favorites are the Indians in the BVI and the Chikuzen which is between the Dogs and Anegada.  The Indians are a favorite for snorkeling also and is close to Norman's Island and the Willie T for an after dive libation.  The Chikuzen is 12 miles off shore so it is a good sail out and then a sail to Anegada or to North Sound  in Virgin Gorda.